Jake’s Saltwater Adventures is one of the strongest private six pack picks in Homer, built around a modern, well equipped boat and an owner captain reviewers rate at a flat five stars. The FV Nauti Nellie is a 30 foot North River pilothouse built in 2016, with twin Yamaha 300s, a salmon trolling kicker, a heated cabin, and a toilet, and Capt. Jake Lemon runs it for halibut, salmon, and rockfish out of the Homer Small Boat Harbor. Across more than 130 FishingBooker reviews the recurring note is that he gets people on fish fast and is good with first timers, which is the case for booking it.
The verdict and where it ranks
At 8.1 Jake’s is a strong choice and one of the better value private six packs in Homer. It suits a group or a family that wants a modern boat, a personal trip, and an owner captain who is patient with beginners, at a fair, fully posted price. It ranks among the strong tier rather than the very top for two honest reasons: the operation is young, started in 2022, so it has a shorter track record than the decades long names, and almost all of its review evidence sits on FishingBooker, with very little on the open Google and TripAdvisor platforms. The fishing reputation it has built in that time is genuinely strong. For a newer boat at a slightly higher price, look at Homer Fishing Adventures; for a long established alternative, North Country. Compare the field on the Homer ranking.
The boat
The Nauti Nellie is a capable, modern platform. The 30 foot North River is a heavy gauge aluminum pilothouse built in 2016, powered by twin Yamaha 300s with a kicker for salmon trolling, cruising near 35 knots, with a heated cabin and a toilet that make a cold Cook Inlet day more comfortable. It fishes up to 6 anglers, so the rail is uncrowded and the trip is personal. A second, smaller boat, the 24 foot Nauti Dawg, is run by Jake’s father, Capt. Mark Lemon, and is the lighter option for a smaller group or closer in fishing. As six packs these boats feel the weather more than the big inspected hulls, but the Nauti Nellie is well found and the kicker makes it a real salmon boat as well as a halibut one.
The fishing and what you target
Jake’s fishes Pacific halibut as the core, on full day trips under the 2026 Area 3A charter limit of two a day, one of any size and one under 27 inches, with retention closed Wednesdays and Tuesdays from June 2 to August 25. The combos are the strength: halibut and salmon, halibut and rockfish, and salmon and rockfish, with king and silver salmon, lingcod after July 1, and Pacific cod in the mix, plus a private long range halibut day and a bear viewing and halibut combo. The trolling kicker means the boat fishes salmon properly rather than as an afterthought. The optional GAF program lets you keep a second, larger halibut for an added fee, which is worth knowing if a big fish is the goal.
Trips and prices
Pricing is posted per person on Jake’s own site, which is a plus for transparency. A full day halibut trip is $320 to $390, a halibut and salmon combo $450, a halibut and rockfish combo $475, and a salmon and rockfish combo $440. Booking the whole boat private runs $2,300 to $2,850, and a private long range halibut day is $2,700. The Alaska license is separate, the $20 halibut stamp is added, and the optional program to keep an extra halibut is $100 per fish. Rods, tackle, and catch cleaning are included, with processing handled by a Spit processor for a fee. For a private six pack the rates are competitive, sitting below the newest boats in the port, which our cost guide and party boat versus private charter guide help you weigh.
The crew
Capt. Jake Lemon owns and runs the operation, fishing the Nauti Nellie himself with deckhands the reviews name, and his father runs the second boat. The themes that recur are personable, patient captains and mates, fast runs to productive spots, success with kids and first timers, and a clean, comfortable boat. The honest qualifier is the depth of the record rather than its quality: the operation began in 2022, and outside FishingBooker the review volume is thin, with only a handful on Yelp and Facebook, so the long term consistency that a 20 year operation can show is not there yet. What is there, on the platform that ties reviews to paid trips, is uniformly strong.
Booking and what to know
Jake’s books through its own site and FishingBooker, departing the Homer Small Boat Harbor. Book the summer dates ahead, since a single popular six pack fills fast, and decide between a shared seat and a private boat. Bring warm waterproof layers, food and drink, and motion sickness medicine taken before you sail, and buy your Alaska license and halibut stamp ahead. Rods, tackle, and cleaning are included; arrange processing and shipping with a Spit processor if you want your fish boxed for the flight home. Confirm the day before in case the Cook Inlet weather forces a call.
How we scored it
Jake’s earns its 8.1 on a modern, well equipped boat, an owner captain reviewers rate at five stars across a substantial booking platform record, and fair, fully posted combo pricing. Captain and crew and value are its strongest factors. It is held in the middle of the strong tier by a short track record, since the operation is only a few years old, and by a review base concentrated on one platform. See how we scored this boat and the rest of the Homer charters we rank.